My Kuchisake Onna
by YuGiOhGirl4ever
Summary: She haunts my dreams. Her screams of anger and cries of sorrow. Her grotesque smile making all recoil in terror. She is beautiful. The most Beautiful I'd ever seen. And she was mine. Don't try to save me.  Halloween Romance one shot  Ryo x OC Lynn Brydon


My Kuchisake Onna

Summary: She haunts my dreams. Her screams of anger and cries of sorrow. Her grotesque smile making all recoil in terror. She is beautiful. The most Beautiful I'd ever seen. And she was mine. Don't try to save me. ~ Halloween Romance one shot~ Ryo x OC Lynn Brydon

She haunted my dreams. Always there when I shut my eyes. Her screams of anger echo through my head, making it split open with pain. Her cries of sorrow, self-pity and loneliness, pierce my very soul. Her grotesque smile makes most recoil in cold terror. She is beautiful. The most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. And she was mine. My little slit mouthed woman, my Kuchisake Onna.

Eagerly I lay down to sleep, though I'd only just gotten home from school. The thought of my evening meal was abandoned, unwanted. I lay down on my bed, not bothering to change out of my uniform. I had to hurry. If I did, I could get there, to my dreams and see her. See her before HE stopped me. Before he took my body and deprived me of my sleep, my dreams. He had done it before, shoving my consciousness into a dark recess of my mind, far from my Kuchisake Onna in my dreams. He needed my body, the disgusting spirit of the Millennium Ring.

I wouldn't give him the chance yet. Surely though, he would force me again. I could do nothing to stop him. No matter how much I screamed and struggled. He was too powerful, him and his shadow magic. I no longer feared him. I just feared he would not let me see her. He could do her no harm… for even he did not believe her existence. It sickened him, how I fawned over a woman who existed only in my mind. But she didn't. She lived. She only came to me in my dream. Where she truly was I did not know…

I shut my over-tired brown eyes. How long had it been? Since I slept last… The spirit must have controlled me for days, uninterrupted. My body and mind was so tired. So worn out from this painful lonely world. A faint smile faded into existence on my face as I drifted into much welcomed sleep. Darkness surrounded me, comforting and quiet. The real world faded away and I was asleep within moments.

I opened my eyes in my dream, to find that familiar dark street. Every building on either side looked the same, like demented cookie cutters had been used. The street continued on both in front of me and behind me as I stood in the middle of the empty street, fading into the darkness. There was no moon or stars. There were lamps but they were not lit. Every window on the twisted cloned buildings was dark. There was no one.

"Kirei?" She asked in Japanese.

Her voice is so beautiful, despite it being so quiet. She almost rasped, like it hurt to breath. But it was still music to my ears. A melody I was so deprived of, I nearly begged for her to speak again. To ask again. "Am I beautiful?" she had asked me. I turned to see her, the dark angel she was, standing there behind me, just feet away. She was about my height, with paler skin than I had. Her hair was unrestrained, falling around her face only slightly out of order. It was like dark molten emerald, darker in this dim light… almost black. Her eyes were too green, though bright and seemed to shine unnaturally, almost glow. Dark full lashes framed those beautiful eyes, though unblinking. One might find her stare unnerving. But not me.

She hadn't changed since last we met. She still wore a pink shirt, the straps handing off just below her shoulders, showing more of her perfect white skin. A blue knee length skirt was also a part of her clothing. She wore no shoes, her bare feet on the cold cement. Covering her mouth was a surgical mask. In her hand, half hidden, was a pair of impossibly large scissors… the blades almost a foot in length… and sharp. Razor sharp. She tilted her head when I gave her no response.

"Am I beautiful?" she asked, this time in my native tongue: English.

Again I remained silent. I always did. It was painful. That mask covering her face… her beauty half hidden from my unworthy sight. I wanted to shout to the heavens how beautiful she was to me. To any ordinary man, she might be considered only pretty, plain even. But not to me. I shivered pleasantly as she looked at me with those cold eyes, anger evident. She wanted me to answer, like her victims did. But there was also patience there. After all, this was a game we played often.

I couldn't speak even if I had wanted to. I was always awestruck by her presence in my dreams. Awestruck… but never afraid. Foolishly, I was not afraid. Fear kept a person alive. Kept them safe. If that were the case for me, I'd have been dead upon our first meeting. But since she pulled that mask down… ah, there her hand goes. To touch the edge of the cloth covering her mouth and nose. Her fingers brushed the cloth over the bridge of her nose. Please, remove it! Remove it and let me see you, all of you, before HE takes me away again! She wanted me to answer her… to engage in her deadly game. But she knew I wouldn't say a word. Not yet.

Quickly she yanked the mask down off her face. The cloth hung from her neck by the bottom ties, the top falling down her chest, over the gold locket. But my eyes were upon her face. Her pink lips were parted, showing blood stained teeth, the corners ripped up into a wide grotesque smile from ear to ear. Blood had dried on her chin and around her wounds, skin jagged. She looked at me, her mouth opening wider, making the grin grow, fresh blood trickling down.

"Am I beautiful NOW?" She asked.

I felt lightheaded. Not the kind where one wants to throw up because the room was spinning. No, it was a euphoric high. I stepped closer and her grin widened as she actually smiled. I fought to find my voice but I was in too much awe…

"…Painfully so…" I whispered.

It was true. What beauty stood before me. Like Venus to the ancient Romans. She had been pretty before, borderline beautiful, but now that her mouth was revealed… she was so beautiful, it made my breath run away from me. Perhaps I wasn't fully sane anymore. Perhaps the spirit of the ring, Damn him, shattered my sanity long ago. My mind was sick, as only that which was so twisted and morbid was so beautiful to me.

The beautiful girl before me raised her scissors and ran it lightly across my cheek from the corner of my mouth to my ear, pushing away my white hair and turning it a little red from the blood on the blades. A caressing touch it was. In Japanese urban myths, Kuchisake Onna… the Slit Mouth Woman... would ask her victims if she was beautiful. Depending on their answer, she would act. If the person said no both times, she would be enraged and kill them on the spot. If the person said yes both times, she would cut their mouth open, making them as beautiful as she was. If the person tried to flee or lied to her, she would still kill them, though slicing them in half so the legends say.

I had said yes. Normally she would cut my mouth, like she would often before. Every time I fell asleep, I would dream of her. Thus each night I would behold her beauty and every night be inflicted upon by pain. Delicious pain. It was strange. I hated pain awake. I despised and loathed pain the Spirit inflicted me. But in my dream world, it served to show me she was real. In dreams, isn't it that one wakes up if he or she feels such pain? I begged for the pain she inflicted upon me. Oh how hesitant she became of late. Each night, she would hesitate more and more to cut me… to hurt me. Like she could not bear to injure me.

This time she did not swipe those razor sharp scissors into my face. No blood ran red and hot down my face. I knew why. It was the same reason I begged to fall asleep whenever I could. It was all there, hidden behind her unnatural eyes. There was no anger anymore. Just two emotions: loneliness and… love. She was in love with me as I was in love with her.

I could take no more. Awake I was timid and shy. Here I was bolder. And greedy. I took hold of her face with my hands, gentle but tight enough to not be denied, and kissed her bloody lips. Oh how greedy I was, to want to taste her blood on my tongue and show her my appreciation. She kept me alive, striving to live to dream of her again. Had it not been for her, I'd have attempted to take my life when the spirit tried to kill my friends the first time and many times after that. I would live for her, give everything for her, and die every night in my dreams for her.

Then I felt it. The familiar, none too gentle tug, trying to yank me back into the real world. An expression of pained sorrow melted onto my face as I kissed her. Oh how I hated that spirit that possessed me. He was trying to take me back out of my dream, away from my beloved, to use… or misuse as it was probably considered… my body for whatever he had planned now. I didn't want to. Not yet. Not ever. But I never had the choice.

My Kuchisake Onna broke off the kiss, pulling away a little. Looking up at me, head tilted down a little. My breathing was shaky as I continued to fight the pull. Just let me stay a little longer, I beg. If only to feel her rip my mouth open again. The scissors returned to my cheek, caressing up and down in a line… where she always cut me open. I gasped as the tug suddenly lessened, almost disappearing completely. Had she done that? Yes, she must have. She was keeping me here. The dark powers of the spirit couldn't touch her. She was a demon unrestrained by old magic. Oh how I envied it. Keep me here forever in your presence! Inflict pain upon me forever more! How foolish a motion. She could fight his power, not affected herself. But she couldn't do so forever. In the end she had to give me up. She always did.

"Do you hate him?" she said, her voice almost hallow and with an almost echo to it.

This was the first time she spoke to me, other than to ask her deadly questions. I wanted to hear her speak again. I wanted to tell her yes, with all my heart, mind and soul that I wished him gone. But that was false. My heart, soul and entire being belonged to her. She owned me now. I gave up everything to her. I would die an infinite amount of painful deaths for all of eternity if it meant I could stay by her and have her inflict those pains. Once again I was rendered speechless, only managing a nod.

My Kuchisake Onna's grin widened, making her beautifully grotesque smile widen further, making her look positively maleficent. She leaned toward me, making that delightful shiver run up my spine. I could feel her ice cold breath, so feathery and light, on my face.

"Do you want him gone? Do you want me to kill him… for good?" she asked me.

I felt my mouth go dry. Kill him… could she do that? He was a spirit after all. He was already dead. The only way I knew of to be rid of him was if I died, or perhaps if the Ring was destroyed. Neither of the options seemed appealing or possible even.

"Y-Yes…" I said, barely audible.

She opened her scissors. She traced my bottom lip with the pointed tip of one of the blades, slicing a hair thin line in one spot. Again I shivered. The blade tip caught the corner of my mouth. So close to cutting through my skin.

"Then I will make him hurt… hurt so much for hurting my Ryo… Ry-chan." She said, her raspy voice softening to a coo.

It didn't surprise me that she knew my name. She knew everything about me by now. I knew nothing of her, of her past… no doubt she had one. No one could be born a Kuchisake Onna right? You were made into one, I was sure. I had no way of finding this out. But if the spirit was out of the way… nothing would stop me from seeing her every night, maybe more. There would be plenty of time to find out more about this beautiful creature of my dreams. The rest of my life.

"Y-You would do th-that for me? Wh-why?" I asked.

"No one ever answers me like you do… When the mask is taken off… many say no… or lie. You are honest… and say yes. You don't try to run from me… You bleed so well… you make such a pretty smile…" My Kuchisake Onna said.

She gave an anguished cry as she tore into my skin. The corner of my mouth to my left ear turned into a half jagged smile, mirroring her own. Pain flooded my system. My heart thudded against my chest painfully. I made no sound, my pupils dilating from pain. I looked to my beautiful Kuchisake Onna. She was crying? She never cried before. She'd always screamed in anger, sometimes a little sad but she never cried. She was letting out tearful wails. Wails of sadness… and loneliness I realized. Yes… I was her only companion. All others cringe, her grotesque smile making them recoil in terror. How lonely she must be. No one else wanted to look at her, talk to her honestly and make her feel wanted. The same as me. I was lonely. No one wanted me around, to talk to me like friend… make me feel wanted.

I coughed, my blood pouring into my mouth and into my throat, making me gag. Droplets of the red liquid landed on her face, mingling with her own. She gave another wail and slit the other side of my mouth. I could feel the tugging once again. There wasn't much time left. I gagged again. So much blood… in my mouth… running down my throat. It ran down my face, staining my pale skin and white hair. Despite it all I wanted to speak as she drew the bloodied scissors away.

"P-please…! Don't-Don't make me… go back… Let me stay… with you…!" I tried to tell her.

My Kuchisake Onna let out an inhuman scream of anguish. How long before I would see her again? This dream world was already starting to dim, turning black as I was drawn into a far recess of my lonely mind. How long before I heard her voice again? How long until I hear her say "Kirei?" to me? If ever… I decided to find a way back to her. At all costs I would get back to her. Wait for me, my Kuchisake Onna… my beautiful Kuchisake Onna!

I knew I was no longer in my apartment, but I was puzzled as to why I was not locked up in the void of my mind, like all the times before when the spirit took my body over. This could only mean one thing and I dreaded it. The spirit was in one of those moods. In recent days, the spirit had been in a sense, inactive. He wasn't battling the pharaoh, working on his grand master plan. He took over my body for reasons known only to him. I had a pretty good idea.

The spirit of the Ring was a violent spirit, constantly craving to shed blood. He was, in a sense, like Marik's dark half. Only, the spirit of the Ring knew restraint. Marik's Dark half would carelessly kill for the sake of killing. The spirit of the Ring would do it carefully, to avoid suspicion, and he always had some kind of plan. How else would he still be killing and I not have been arrested for his deeds?

Whenever the spirit was restless and unable to exact revenge upon his foes, mainly the pharaoh and his friends, the spirit would take my body for days at a time and stalk several preys. The poor unfortunate people would meet an untimely and excruciatingly painful death. How did I know this? The spirit liked to show me his memories of it, first hand like I had actually done it myself, and the blood stained clothing. It blood would be all over me, even in my hair. I would spend hours scrubbing my skin raw in the shower to rid myself of the blood, sobbing like a child in guilt.

On nights like tonight, the spirit would drag me out of my prison and make me watch. He called it "obedience training". I had to obey him always. Do this and he would continue "protecting" me. Do this and he wouldn't become my worst enemy… more so than normal. No doubt he was punishing me now for not surrendering to him instantly when I had been asleep and no doubt him not being able to wrench me out of my dream easily made him furious. He always had to be in control. Always.

"Eager for your punishment, Landlord?" the vile spirit said to me, communicating through the forced link the Ring had caused.

Eager I was, though to only be done with it. I took no joy in his killings of innocent people. That's what I told myself. They were innocent; they had done me no wrongs. They had done no one any great wrongs that deserved death. I'd much rather the spirit kill serial killers or someone who deserved it. But to suggest such a thing would only lead to my own pain later. The spirit could inflict all sorts of pain to me. He could create illusions in my mind of pain, even death, directed toward myself. Physically he could only cause minor injuries, cuts and bruises that wouldn't hinder him and his plans.

The spirit seemed irritated, but not angry, at my silence. Normally I would have answered, fearing further punishment. But tonight I cared not. I had been with my Kuchisake Onna, felt her intoxicating pain and gazed upon her magnificent form. This street the spirit was walking down… it looked so much like the one in my dream. No lights. The lamps flickered out, one by one as the spirit approached, plunging us into almost un-seeable darkness. If not for the moon above, it would truly be dark. The spirit even walked down the middle of the road, between houses that looked almost the same as the one next to it, though not twisted clones. If only… if only my Kuchisake Onna was here waiting for me.

I was surprised when I suddenly was no longer looking through my eyes, though not being able to move any part of my body at the time, and was standing there next to my body. I was not solid. I was like a ghost, a spirit. Unnatural shadows swirled around my feet and I knew it was the spirit's doing. This was a new trick. I may have been transparent, probably unable to be seen by any normal person, but I could definitely feel it when the spirit grabbed my throat and slammed me to the pavement.

It felt very real… and at the same time very unreal. There I was, out of my body like a spirit, slammed to the pavement to find that I can very much feel pain, staring up at a very menacing version of my own face. Pain and fear, something the Spirit of the Ring enjoyed dealing out very much. I mentally cursed, something I am not known to do often if at all. He had heard my thoughts, heard me think of my Kuchisake Onna… and it made him angry.

I felt his hand tighten around my throat. Had I been in my real body, or any real body, I'd have passed out from the lack of air. I did not have that luxury. I had to deal with the spirit's anger, all of it.

"Enough of this foolishness, you pathetic mortal! There is no "Kuchisake Onna"! She exists only in your puny imagination! There is only me! I am your master! YOU ARE NOTHING!" He hissed at me.

His voice was barely above normal talking volume. But the message was clear. He was furious. He wanted to hurt me for not giving him my undivided attention, fearing him as I should have. And for a moment I was afraid. Then, something inside snapped within me and a tremendous anger bubbled up, threatening to suffocate me. My eyes narrowed, a dark glare overtaking the feared look I had given him just seconds ago. He seemed surprised, though he didn't show it. I could sense it. His innocent little "Landlord" was looking hostile toward him. How dare he call my beautiful Kuchisake Onna a foolish figment of my imagination! He truly did know nothing.

With a growl he backhanded me, my head snapping to the side. I uttered no noise. It hurt, very much so. But the anger numbed it to the point I barely registered the pain. I wanted him dead, oh how I wanted him dead! I didn't care if I killed myself in the process but I WANTED HIM TO DIE! Had I been in my right mind, I would have been shocked at myself. I never before wished anyone dead. I never had a violent bone in my body, as others had told me time and time again. But that was just it, the spirit had changed me. True, not in the way he had hoped. I was not weak. I was not pathetic. I was stronger. I learned to hate. Learned to hate with a true fiery passion that threatened to consume me.

The spirit had ruined my life. Ruined my chance at normalcy! I had no friends! The ones that called me a friend only saw him! Only saw what he did! They barely knew I existed! He ruined my chances at other schools for a fresh start! Each time he appeared and chased everyone away! He killed mercilessly, leaving guilty blood on my hands!

I turned my head and returned his harsh glare, making him tighten his grip on my throat. Tonight, he did kill someone. He killed the Ryo Bakura I used to be. I am the new one, one with hate and anger, never to be quite the same again. Clouds started gathering overhead, almost in response to the emotions in both of us. Thunder rumbled distantly, warning. His eyes narrowed. He knew everything I was thinking and he would so long as the Ring bound us together.

"I can kill you." He said to me, clenching his fist tighter, nails digging into my "skin". "I can kill you and still keep this body. I only keep you around for my entertainment. You are merely a slave to me. I can erase your consciousness, erase your very soul. I can kill you."

"Then do it." I dared him, speaking aloud for the first time in this false body. "Kill me. Prove to me that you can. I won't stop you, as you say many times before, I cannot stop anything you do."

The spirit growled, eyes flashing dangerously. You coward, I thought. I grabbed the Millennium Ring with my transparent hand. I held it up to his face, in front of mine.

"You can't, can you. That would hurt you. You're still bound by the Ring and the Ring has bound you to me. I go… you go. I however can live without you. I had for so many years before I received the ring. Yet you could do nothing, trapped within the Ring because you had no suitable host. Isn't that right? Isn't that the reason you didn't take Mokuba's soulless body in Duelist Kingdom? You weren't compatible with him. I am your reincarnation. I am compatible. How many more years, how many more thousands of years before you find another like me?" I said.

The spirit smirked at my argument.

"How many indeed. But you forget, Landlord. The Ring's power is placing one's soul into an object. Your body is an object. I can transfer my soul into it and destroy yours. You and I might be bound together but the pain I'd receive killing you would be nothing." He said.

My expression was unchanged. I didn't know if this was a bluff or truth. If he could have, why didn't he get rid of me already? I had fought against him so many times, ruining his plans time after time. I was a hindrance. Even if I was just entertainment, I doubted he would tolerate it. Perhaps he was just that twisted. Perhaps that he had waited so long for the opportunity that he was willing to wait for the right time. And then perhaps, he really did think me to be that weak.

"You are weak. You can do nothing to stop me." The spirit said.

He lifted my head off the pavement and slammed it back down, cracking my head against the hardness. He let go, standing, ripping the Ring from my grasp with ease. I sat up. I had no dizziness, just pain. After all, a spirit can't get a concussion. I got onto one knee, intent on standing, murder in my eyes. I didn't care if he killed me. I didn't care if I killed myself. But I wanted to try to kill him. I didn't get the chance to however. I heard it. An almost unhearable sound. So small, it was almost lost in the deafening silence of the deserted street. Footsteps.

The spirit too heard them and stopped. He turned. As did I. I couldn't believe who I saw. I wondered if I was still dreaming. But she was there… my Kuchisake Onna. Her head was pointed in a downward angle as she glared at the spirit inhabiting my body. Her eyes glowed in the darkness, really glowing. They looked like poison. She stopped, standing a few feet from me, as still as death. Her hands were at her sides, bloodied scissors in her right hand.

I felt the spirit's confusion. I cannot blame him. I would be shocked too if some girl just appeared, covered in spots of blood, wearing a bloody surgical mask, holding bloodied scissors and wearing no shoes. And her eyes glowing certainly made one stop in shock. He knew this wasn't just some crazy girl roaming around in the dark. The spirit's eyes narrowed again, the Ring lighting up. So he was smart enough to know this girl was a threat.

I myself felt the familiar feelings I got when in her presence. This was no dream, she was really here. I begged silently to hear her voice her question. I didn't care if she sliced my real body to pieces. I would gladly die tonight if only to watch her work and kill my source of misery. Her poison eyes looked from the Spirit to the Ring. Then she looked at me, her eyes softening a little. Did she know something we did not?

Her head snapped back to the spirit as he opened his mouth to speak, a crack sounding from her neck. I felt a thrill run through me. She started toward him, turning her head slightly to the side, cracking her neck again.

"Be gone!" the spirit of the ring said, the Ring itself shining brighter.

Then something surprising happened. The Ring stopped glowing. It just stopped, like a light that had been switched off. I saw something else I'd never expected to see, panic in the Spirit's eyes. Nothing has ever stopped his Ring, of that I was sure. I wanted to laugh. So the Ring didn't affect her. Hell, it looked like it didn't even sense she was there. An old relic. She was a newer creature. Had she been around when the items were created, the Ring might have taken her out. But now, with only the Ring and no other items to help it, she was immune.

The Spirit of the Ring didn't react fast enough as she grabbed the Ring, bringing up her scissors with great speed. She cut through the cord. I felt odd as a strange sensation ran through me and everything went dark. Words could not describe it. I was light, then heavy, like gravity was holding me down again, instead of the floating feeling I got in the false body.

I opened my eyes to see her now standing before me. No. That wasn't it. I was now in front of her. I looked down at my hands. My real hands. I was back in my body! But the spirit… where had he gone? I didn't feel the presence in the back of my mind I normally felt. I looked at the Ring she held in her hand. The other half of the cord still hung limply around my neck. Is it possible… that my Kuchisake Onna had actually… severed the Ring's connection to me when she severed the cord? I didn't know how that was possible but it happened. It wasn't permanent. If the Ring was put around my neck again, the spirit would return. Of that I knew.

So what happens now, I wondered. Just then my Kuchisake Onna turned and threw the Ring to the ground. It clattered when it hit. I stumbled back when shadows exploded out of it, forming into the Spirit. He had a body? Ah, I know. Another temporary body, like he had done to me. Yes, that had to be it. The spirit looked angry, very angry. The Ring hung limply on his neck.

"You bitch! What did you do!" the spirit snarled.

"…Your magic doesn't work… on what is already dead…" My Kuchisake Onna said, her voice like that of a specter, echoing slightly, sounding breathy.

The spirit actually did snarl at this. But he didn't realize it. Not yet. How much danger he was in. My Kuchisake Onna walked toward him and he tensed. He did not know the legend. He did not know what she was capable of. I felt giddy. Oh how I wanted to watch this. I wanted to watch her beautiful work. Instead I grinned, looking slightly insane I'd bet. But the spirit didn't notice me anymore. My Kuchisake Onna stopped before him.

"Kirei?" She asked him.

The Spirit looked confused. How would he answer I wonder. My cruel smile widened. Answer wisely, you disgusting demon. Either way you die… but I wonder how painful and humiliating you will make it with your answer.

"Am I beautiful?" She asked again.

The spirit growled and then with a yell rushed at her. He had intended on attacking her but she vanished! He fell to his knees, losing balance as he hit nothing in his attack. His head was brutally yanked back as his hair was grabbed in a tight grip. He looked up at the looming form of my Kuchisake Onna. Then, delicious fear flooded his face as he saw the scissors above his face. Not so tough now, were you spirit? Not with the possibility that someone was stronger and had the upper hand for once.

The spirit must have figured that he should answer, try to get out of the mess he was now in. Predictably, he looked up from the scissors to the girl's face. With the mask on, he had no idea, so his answer was just as predictable.

"Yes." He said without stuttering, trying to display that iron courage he always used to have.

My Kuchisake Onna let out a dark laugh. She was pleased with his answer. I was interested. He thought that now, how would he react when he knew the truth? My Kuchisake onna reached up with her scissor holding hand. She took hold of the mask with her delicate index finger and thumb. She pulled it down slowly until her nose was uncovered. Then she yanked it off.

The spirit let out an unexpected scream of terror, like a child, upon seeing her ripped flesh. I was overcome by awe, like in my dreams. Just as beautiful as ever, if not more so now in reality. My Kuchisake onna opened her mouth slightly, making the tear open into her gruesome smile. The spirit tried to get away but her grip was surprisingly tight and all he could do was grab her wrist in an attempt to dislodge her.

"AM I BEAUTIFUL NOW?" My Kuchisake Onna screamed at him.

I felt a laugh bubble up inside me, threatening to leap from my throat. But I held it in. I wanted to watch without interrupting. But how amusing it was. To watch the very spirit that had inspired fear inside the hearts of many, mine included, now a shaking mess. Without his magic, he was powerless. Weak. He truly deserved what was about to happen to him.

"No!" he screamed.

My Kuchisake Onna let out a very inhuman like snarl, her face contorted in rage. Her torn flesh seemed to tear further. She raised her scissors like a knife and plunged it into the spirit's neck. I couldn't hold it in anymore. A great laugh tore through me. I laughed and laughed without restraint as the spirit gaged on blood that poured out of his mouth. How very realistic that body was to him. Perhaps my Kuchisake Onna had magic to do that. I didn't care. I was enjoying this way too much to care for anything. I didn't even care if I attracted attention and brought Domino's entire police department down to this street.

My Kuchisake Onna laughed darkly as she twisted the scissors further into the side of his neck. Had he been human, he'd have died already from blood loss. But the blood kept coming, staining his skin and his clothes, identical to my own, before it pooled beneath him on the pavement. Such a wonderful sight, my Kuchisake Onna and her victim. It belongs in a gallery.

"…how does that feel? You caused so much pain… to others… and MY Ryo. You answered me incorrectly… so I would kill you… but my Ryo wants you in pain… I want you in pain. So I will ask again… Am I beautiful?" she asks him.

She removes the scissors and holds them up, spreading the blades. Blood dripped off them. The spirit was unable to speak. The sound was lost, a gurgle in his throat as more blood poured out of his mouth and wound. I knew what he said. He was trying to say "yes". To lie. Normally that would incur the wrath of the Kuchisake Onna. An instant death. But not in this case. He was being tortured. So it was as though he told the truth instead.

I leaned, hands on my knees, as I tried to catch my breath. I had laughed so hard that I was panting, tears in my eyes. I wiped them so I could see what happened next. My Kuchisake Onna slashed the spirit's mouth open, tearing a gash from the corner of his mouth to his ear. He let out a choked scream.

"I WILL MAKE YOU BEAUTIFUL TOO THEN!" My Kuchisake Onna screamed.

She laughed darkly as she slashed the other side of his face. Then she stabbed him repeatedly in the chest, staining his entire blue and white striped shirt red. He still wasn't dead though. In great pain yes. But he was still alive. My Kuchisake Onna knew this. She leaned down, her green hair falling around her face more than before. She whispered in his ear.

"Now… you die." She said.

She thrust the scissors into the center of the eye on the Millennium Ring. It sparked and blood oozed out of it, as though the eye was crying blood tears in a steady stream. The spirit's eyes were wide open, his mouth wide in a silent scream. My Kuchisake onna pulled the scissors out. The eye itself had no damage, just the blood oozing out of it. The spirit's arms fell to his sides, hands resting palms up on the pavement, and he was limp, held up by his hair. My Kuchisake Onna let go and he fell. He lay still on his stomach, head turned toward me. Dead.

I laughed again. He was head. HE WAS DEAD! I looked into his blank staring eyes, staring at me, and felt no guilt. For the first time, a death I had been a part of did not weigh on my conscience. I just laughed. Stabbing the eye of the Ring killed his spirit permanently. There was no coming back. He probably would never even see hell. He was dead beyond another life in damnation. I watched as his false body turned to inky blackness and then fade away. Then there was no more trace of him. Only his blood remained, in the center of which was the Ring, now empty.

My Kuchisake Onna looked at me and smiled. This wasn't the same smile as she had done just moments before. It was the smile I remembered from the dream. I smiled back, as though I had not seen what had just happened. I walked toward her, stepping around the puddle. The scissors in her hand vanished and she put both hands, clean and bloody on my chest as I took her face in my own hands. I looked down at her lovingly. My Kuchisake Onna… my love. I kissed her, tasting her blood on my tongue just like in the dream. But her blood was sweeter in real life.

Just then the clouds decided to open up. Rain fell steadily around us in a drenching pour. The blood at our feet was washed away, down the storm drain on the side of the street. The cleansing rain also washed the blood from our skin and made our clothes stick to us tightly. It could not wash all the blood from them. But that was alright.

I broke the kiss and looked at her again, feeling warmth in my chest despite the cold rain. Her mouth was slowly sealing until it was almost completely healed. There were still tears on the corner of her mouth. She must have been so beautiful when she was alive. Now though, she was infinitely more beautiful.

"Stay with me, forever. Please." She said, her voice normal.

"Yes." I said without hesitation.

She was death itself but I still could not bear to part from her. She saved my life and in return I give her unconditional love. I didn't care that I had just damned myself. I felt no pain as a tear worked its way from the corners of my mouth, crawling across my skin like two insects, separating the skin. Her own slit mouth returned fully. A little blood came out of my cuts, staining the skin beneath. I didn't care. I was still alive, but I wasn't fully human anymore. I was like her now. Forever.

I took her hand and we walked away from the scene. I left the Ring there. Someone would find it. Probably Yugi. No doubt the pharaoh had sensed what had happened and would come to investigate. They would find what was left of their enemy. I'd never know. I was now a Kuchisake Otoku, a slit mouthed man. There probably will never be another like me. That was fine. Don't try to save me. I don't want to be saved. All I needed was my Kuchisake Onna… my Lynn. Forever.

The End.

Happy Halloween everyone! I hoped you all enjoyed my very special Halloween one shot fic staring Ryo and my oc Lynn. The urban legend of the Kuchisake Onna is one of my favorites! It's originally from Japan and there actually was a real scare about it in the 70's! People were so worried in small villages that children weren't allowed to walk home alone because the Kuchisake Onna, the slit mouthed woman, could hunt them. I tried to keep the Kuchisake Onna Lynn true to the legend as well as try to keep Lynn's character. It came out as a dark, sad Lynn who turned out quite scary in my opinion. Translation was a bit difficult due to differing results. The phrase "Kirei" was translated as "Am I Beautiful?" in a movie called Carved2 (check out a subtitled trailer on YouTube!) but was translated as "Watashi wa utsukushii nodesu ka?" in Google translate to represent "Am I beautiful?". In Google translate, if the "?" mark was left off though, it would still be "Kirei". If you have any questions about this fic, feel free to review and I'll explain it for you. Thanks for reading!


End file.
